Saturday, 17 September 2011

I figured i ought to have more art supplies considering i'm always making things so i bought a pack of superior quality pastels the other day from the Cass sale, I've never actually been into Cass when there isn't a sale and i'm not sure whether that's just down to good timing or whether they're like those shops that are permanently having a closing down sale but are still open two years later. Anyway I've decided that this urge to branch out and employ new materials is most likely due to the fact that I've been invigilating at The Museum of Everything.

Exhibition #4 is the latest installation of visionary James Brett's project to unleash the talents of untrained or 'outsider' artists unto the world. Unlike the previous three exhibitions this newest one focusses particularly on the work of artists with developmental disabilities working in studios mainly across Europe and the US. While workshops and art therapy sessions are common in mental hospitals and care homes for physically disabled the art work produced from them are rarely taken seriously as art, and people who create them are rarely considered artists. The establishment of permanent studios for talented self taught artists with developmental disabilities has been a radical move towards nurturing the creativity of people whose talents would most likely otherwise lay dormant.

The studios provide equipment and some support from technicians but other than that the work created in them is completely original and often developed over time. While the artists probably have little concern for the history of art or critical approaches blah blah, some of the artworks I've seen there have been the most interesting, funny, imaginative and bizarre I've have seen in a long time, and maybe i'm saying that because i don't know much about art theory either but if this is the kind of work that is produced from an artistic naivety then that might not be such a bad thing!

Taking photos of the exhibition was punishable by £1000 fine...the perfect opportunity to try out my new pastels and do these drawings of two of the artworks. You can see the originals plus lots lots more over at The Museum of Everything which is on till late October. http://www.museumofeverything.com/